Tehran (AFP) – Iran’s national football team was headed to Turkey on Monday to play a final friendly match and apply for visas to fly to the United States for the 2026 World Cup, Iranian media reported. The team plans to participate in the tournament despite co-host Washington having launched a war against Iran with a massive wave of attacks alongside ally Israel on February 28. The fighting has been on hold for weeks thanks to a ceasefire, but peace talks have failed to make a breakthrough, and new drone attacks against Gulf countries at the weekend, combined with threats from US President Donald Trump, have raised fears of a return to fighting.
The team “departed this morning for Antalya, Turkey to play its final friendly match before flying to the United States for the 2026 World Cup,” the Tasnim news agency reported. It said the squad consisted of 22 domestic-based players alongside their coaching staff. On Saturday, head coach Amir Ghalenoei stated that they would also be completing visa applications for the US while in Turkey.
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Iran secured their spot at the World Cup in March 2025, but since then, the United States has twice launched attacks on the country. US officials have insisted that Iran is welcome at the tournament, while organiser FIFA has stated it will go ahead as planned and rejected Iranian suggestions that their games be moved to co-hosts Mexico or Canada. “I think let ’em play,” Trump said in late April. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented that any problem would not be with Iranian players but “some of the other people (they) would want to bring with them,” suggesting they may have ties to the Revolutionary Guards, which Washington has branded a terrorist organisation.
Last month, officials from Iran’s football federation abandoned a trip to the FIFA congress in Canada, saying they had been “insulted” by Canadian immigration officers. One of their delegation, Mehdi Taj, is a former member of the Revolutionary Guards, which Canada has also designated a terror group.
The Iranian football team hopes to play two friendlies in Antalya. They have already confirmed one match against The Gambia on May 29, said Sam Mehdizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who heads a company that sets up friendlies for the team. “No visas have been issued yet,” Taj, the head of Iran’s football federation, told Iranian media on Thursday. On Saturday, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom held a meeting in Turkey with the federation, describing it as constructive, as did Taj.
When the squad reaches the United States, Iran will set up their base camp in Tucson, Arizona. The team, who are in Group G, are due to kick off their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on 15 June, before facing Belgium in the same city and then Egypt in Seattle.
© 2024 AFP
